This week, we witnessed the SNP's most cynical performance yet |
Joani Reid, the Labour MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven, argues the Scottish Government is using Professor Alexis Jay’s reputation to mask a review structure that protects Ministers more than it protects victims.
In the theatre of Scottish politics, the SNP Government has become expert at stage management. When a failure becomes undeniable, they follow a familiar script: express concern, announce a "process," make grand claims about what it will achieve, then rely on the headlines to do the work. All in the hope that by the time the public and press read the small print, the caravan will have moved on.
This week, we witnessed perhaps their most cynical performance yet.
Facing mounting pressure over the last few months and weeks of denial, delay, and deeply unedifying misrepresentations, the Scottish Government finally blinked.
They announced a review into organised child sex abuse, and they played their trump card: the involvement of Professor Alexis Jay.
On the surface, it looked like a concession. Jay’s reputation precedes her. From her pivotal work exposing the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal to her leadership of the Independent Inquiry into Child........